Emergence
' |image= |series= |production= 40277-275 |producer(s)= |story= Brannon Braga |script= Joe Menosky |director= Cliff Bole |imdbref=tt0708705 |guests=David Huddleston as Conductor, Vinny Argiro as Hitman, Thomas Kopache as Engineer, Arlee Reed as Hayseed |previous_production=Bloodlines |next_production=Preemptive Strike |episode=TNG S07E23 |airdate= 9 May 1994 |previous_release=(TNG) Bloodlines (Overall) The Wire |next_release=(TNG) Preemptive Strike (Overall) Crossover |story_date(s)=Stardate 47869.2 |previous_story=(TNG) Bloodlines (Overall) The Maquis Part 2 |next_story=(TNG) Preemptive Strike (Overall) The Wire }} =Summary= Picard and the crew are concerned when an unexplained series of mechanical malfunctions occurs aboard the Enterprise. First, a runaway train suddenly appears in the Holodeck, then the ship takes itself into warp and locks out all propulsion access. Determined to regain control, Picard orders an emergency core shutdown, but before Geordi can carry out the order, the ship takes itself out of warp. An investigation reveals the Enterprise somehow protected itself — it would have exploded just a moment later if it didn't go to warp. Wondering how the ship was able to do this, Geordi and Data investigate and discover a complex network of nodes and circuitry forming at several points on the ship. When Geordi attempts to examine one of the nodes, it defends itself by emitting a force field. Since the nodes appear to converge in the Holodeck, Riker, Data, and Worf investigate, and are shocked to find several different programs running at once, with characters from all of them riding as passengers on a train. Data attempts to depolarize the power grid, but the characters stop him, then change the train's direction and force Data, Worf, and Riker to leave. At the same time, the Enterprise slips back into warp, and Picard realizes he may not be able to stop it. Data then deduces that the ship is somehow forming its own intelligence. Data believes that the computer's ability to see, talk, and even reproduce somehow enabled it to go beyond those capacities to learn to think for itself. Since the Holodeck appears to be the focal point, Data and Worf return to the train with Troi. They notice the recurring image of a three-dimensional molecule, and Troi questions a hitman who protects a gold brick and tells her he has to get to Keystone City. The train reaches its destination, and Troi follows him to a brick wall, where he inserts his gold brick and announces that he is laying the foundations. Meanwhile, Picard and Geordi detect strange activity in Cargo Bay Five, where Geordi discovers a glowing shape that looks like the molecule image. Back on the Holodeck, Data depolarizes the power grid. Suddenly, the ship starts to shake, and Geordi orders Data to stop, then later surmises that the ship is protecting the object being created in the Cargo Bay. Troi adds that the characters in the Holodeck could represent specific aspects of the ship, and Picard encourages her to interact with them again in hopes of gaining control. This time, Troi, Data, and Worf cooperate with the characters, and power and life support systems are immediately restored. Picard and Riker notice that the ship has arrived at a white dwarf star and transports vertion particles back to Cargo Bay Five via a tractor beam. When the supply of particles is exhausted, the "molecule" in the bay goes dark, the Holodeck characters become distraught and the train derails. The entire ship shuts down, and Picard and Riker join Geordi in the Cargo Bay. They examine the "molecule" and realize that the Enterprise is attempting to create a lifeform — one that will die if more vertion particles aren't found. Abruptly, the ship starts moving again, this time in the direction of another white dwarf. Unfortunately, the trip will exhaust the ship's oxygen supply, killing everyone unless something is done. Picard realizes their only hope is to create an artificial source of vertion particles. But while Geordi believes this can be done in a nearby nebula, Troi, Worf, and Data must somehow convince the Holodeck characters to change direction. Amazingly, they manage to do so, the particles are created, and the entire scene, including the mysterious new lifeform which has now formed, disappears into space, bringing the U.S.S. Enterprise back to normal. =Errors and Explanations= Equipment Oddities # The sensors not being designed to detect theta flux distortions, even though they can build up and destroy a starship. Perhaps they are either extremely rare or purely theoretical! # The holodeck arch being permanently visable while the program is running. This could be an experimental setting. # The champagne glasses held by Troi, Worf and Data not disappearing when the holodeck program aborts. The glasses and champagne could have been produced by the holodeck replication sub system. Nit Central # Ryan on Wednesday, June 26, 2002 - 1:54 am: The ship sure picks an odd analogy to the Enterprise on the holodeck. It equates the starship to a train. is it just me or does this seem flawed? The Enterprise has free range in 3-dimensions and is not limited in its travels to a track. I personally think a boat would have been a much better analogy, and c'mon, with 1000 people on board and creating holodeck programs, there's gotta be a boat bouncing around somewhere in there. Then again, the holodeck conductor brakes the train much too rapidly and derails the thing, so maybe the ship really was stuck with this weird train contraption thing. Boats aren’t normally able to enter cities as easily as trains can! # Is it just me, or does the holodeck train recover amazingly quickly from its derailment. Sure, the computer could have had the holodeck re-rail the train in a few seconds, but I'm curious how that works into this big analogy thing the computer feels compelled to maintain. This isn’t exactly a normal situation! # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 4:45 am: At the beginning of the show Picard and Data watch the Orient Express approach. Later Data determines that the train came from Dr. Crusher's program. Why would Dr. Crusher's program feature the outside of the train running through the countryside? Her dialogue indicates that she was only interested in the ride and who she might meet, not watching it go by or trying to board it like a hobo. The only time she might watch it approach or leave would be if the program had a train station where she would get on or off. dotter31 on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 4:30 pm: Perhaps the computer extrapolated the exterior appearance of the train. Since it's the Orient Express perhaps the computer looked up historical records on it. Andrew Gilbertson (Zarm_rkeeg) on Friday, April 30, 2010 - 12:59 pm: I'm sure the holodeck generates the entire train- lest you go to look at the window at a steep angle, or get off at a stop- there'd need to be an exterior of the train to view. And since the holodeck would create the whole world (it would need to, for accurate scenery coming past, etc.) I'm sure it just physically creates the whole train rather than an image of the outside along with full detailed sets of the inside. # After being nearly run over by the train, Picard tells Data to shut down all Holodeck programs and Data starts doing this without telling anyone who might be using the Holodecks! What if some poor crewman had been using the Cliffs of Heaven diving program and suddenly crashes face first into the floor? dotter31 on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 4:30 pm: Maybe he first initialized the shutdown and then alerted potential users before completing it(we did not see him finish the process) Andrew Gilbertson (Zarm_rkeeg) on Friday, April 30, 2010 - 12:59 pm: That's what the safeties are for, to prevent that from happening (I believe we see something like this in Voyager's Extreme Risk? I don't remember for sure)- and Data was following Picard's direct order- due to the danger, Picard didn't order "Please courteously inform whomever is using the holodeck right now..." :-) He ordered an immediate shutdown, which Data literally- being Data- complied with. Category:Episodes Category:The Next Generation